Star Trek Action Figures

An early success for Palitoy was the 1975 UK licence for a range of Star Trek figures, which had been released by Mego in the US in 1974.

This range consisted of action figures of Captain Kirk, Mr Spock, Dr McCoy, Mr Scott, and a Klingon, and were the first major range of toy figures to be produced on a card ‘blister pack’ in the US, rather than sold in their own box.

This gave them a unique advantage on toyshop shelves, as prospective buyers could instantly see the toy they were buying, without relying on the (sometimes ambiguous and misleading) artwork depictions that boxed toys previously relied upon.

A sixth figure, Lt Uhura, was added to the range shortly after its launch.

Palitoy licensed the Star Trek figure range for the UK and released their own versions of the toys in 1975. They elected not to include the Lt Uhura in their UK range, however, presumably thinking that a girl ‘doll’ would be of little appeal to their intended market (young boys).

Like the US range, these five 8-inch high figures came on their own blister-packed cards, complete with lurid eye-catching artwork. This particular range was rounded off with a separate ‘Transporter’ toy, which was basically a revolving cabinet into which a figure could be placed, spun around, and made to ‘vanish’.

At around the same time, in 1975, Mego released a second set of four Star Trek figures in the US, this time under the umbrella title of ‘Star Trek Aliens’. These four figures were Neptunian, Keeper, Gorn and Cheron, and actually had very little to do with the actual TV series (Neptunian was a completely fictitious character devised by Mego).

These four 8-inch figures were all licensed by Palitoy and released in the UK shortly after their US release.

There was a third subsequent Mego ‘Star Trek Aliens’ figure set (including Andorian, Romulan, Talos and Mugato) released in the US in 1976, but Palitoy elected not to option any of these four figures for the UK market.